AMERICAN GOTHIC, KISMET, AND GAS...OH MY!

Aside from the envy you must be feeling for the very attractive outfit I'm wearing, LOOK AT THAT SNOW....see how deep it is??  I could say I singlehandedly shovelled the entire driveway pictured, but that would be a lie...I was much more concerned about my outfit! 

If you squint, you can see the house at the end of drive; next to the house is our little Fiat Panda, which was buried completely under the snow.  So, it becomes clear why shovelling was necessary....

But we're Southern California people, we don't know anything about snow or how to shovel it or how to drive in it or...anything.  Ahhh, our part of Italy imparts lesson after lesson after lesson!

 

                            But what a beautiful lesson...as long as you've got a shovel and warm clothes.
                                                  (Picture by David McIntyre, new friend)

We've been back in Italy a month and spent the first two weeks making sure everything worked....  we've got heat and snow tires and new phones and working internet and a new IKEA kitchen coming...life is good! 

30 years ago I worked with a lovely woman, Sherri Johnson, who happens to live in Florence.  So we embarked on a weekend visit--to reacquaint ourselves and compare "living in Italy" experiences. 
Sherri and her husband, Curly, opened their home and their arms to us--once I got over the fact I have indeed aged over the last 30 years---we settled in and found people who are simpatici--of like minds and hearts.

Sherri said it best,  "Friends seem more important here--maybe because we have time to spend with friends, maybe because it is comfortable to be with people who share similar interests and backgrounds, or maybe it's because we'd be friends with you even if was the first time we met--I think we all felt a connection and it feels good!"

And then being in beautiful Florence--what 's not to love? 

*  We are paying the equivalent of $10/gallon for gas---yep, you read that correctly, $10!!!  It gives us pause every time we get in the car---but I refuse to let that stymie my explorations!

*  I found a yoga class--taught in Italian, thank you very much--that I have begun.  It's a challenge, but it brings me closer to the community in which we live...and if we live here, I'd like to be part of the community.

*  We've joined a gym--no English spoken there, either--but ya know, sweat is sweat in any language and the tread mill works the same way.

*  We're visiting Cyprus next week to see Othello's Castle...and anything else the island has to offer.

Nature, Fate, Community, Politics have shaped our lives this past month...I am anxious to see what the next months hold for us!